Darkest Risings (9 page)

“Dominic
and Conrad are close family friends and are staying with us for the time being.
I expect you two to treat my friend with the utmost respect,” Ebony told them
both sternly.

“I’ll
do my best.” Dominic winked and smiled a wolfish grin.

“I
don’t know. She’s a looker.” Conrad smiled.

“You
two are impossible.” Ebony rolled her eyes.

“Yep.”

“You’ve
already met Ashe.” Ebony smiled warmly at her husband.

Wilhemina
fought back a groan when Ashe returned his wife’s smile along with a smoldering
stare that gave off so much heat she felt the need to fan herself. But she also
felt something else. A sense of familiarity.

“Hello,
Ashe.”

“Are
you settling in well, Wilhemina?” Ashe asked after tearing his gaze from Ebony.

“Yes.
You have a beautiful home. Thank you for having me.”

“Any
friend of Ebony’s is welcome. Stay as long as you wish.”

“Thank
you.” If she had been talking to Ashe on the phone instead of in person, she
would have sworn he was much older by the manner in which he spoke.

“Come
with me and meet Aiston now.” Ebony tugged Wilhemina over toward Avril and
another
GQ
guy.

Wilhemina
was surprised that Aiston had blond hair. Ashe was dark, and for some reason,
she assumed Aiston would be as well. He was no less gorgeous than Ashe, a
couple inches shorter maybe, leaner, but beautifully muscled and had nearly the
same color eyes. A knot began forming in her stomach as she realized why she
had gotten a sense of deja-vu from Ashe and now Aiston.

“Well,
aren’t you a pretty little thing.” Aiston gave her a deep bow and grinned.

“Pay
no attention to him. He’s a flirt.” Avril grinned.

“Maybe
a bit, baby, but my heart will always belong to you.” He kissed Avril on the
cheek.

“You’ll
have to watch out for Aiston. He’s known to be the prankster in the family,” Ebony
warned.

“Yes.
I believe Avril mentioned something about that.” Wilhemina was intrigued.

“You
game for some pranks?” Aiston’s eyebrows shot up.

“She
most certainly is not!” Ebony and Avril spoke at the same time.

Wilhemina
giggled at Aiston’s scowl. Curiosity getting the better of her, she was about
to ask Aiston about some of his pranks when Ebony’s next words made her
inwardly cringe.

“Aldin!
There you are. Come meet my friend.”

She
didn’t want to turn around. She wanted to run away. She never thought to see
Mr. Sexy again, but if the opportunity did decide to present itself, she’d most
certainly not have picked to see him again in the middle of a room full of
people. Unfortunately, sometimes life didn’t give you choices, and one simply
had to man-up—woman-up in her case—and deal with it. She pasted a wide smile on
her face and turned.

His
piercing eyes stole the breath from her lungs. Drake’s had been dark, and while
she’d seen enough of him to know he was a hottie, the brilliant light of the
room failed to bring one single flaw to the surface. He was perfect in every
way. Huge, sexy, foreboding, dominant, and very male. He reminded her of a
predator, and she had a strange longing to become his prey.

Heat
pulsed between her thighs, and she fought back the urge to moan. The slight
flare of his nostrils and light that sparked in those glorious, turquoise eyes
made her wonder if he had detected her excitement. But how could he?

“This
is Aldin. He’s the middle brother.” Ebony introduced him.

“Hello,
Aldin. Nice to meet you.” Wilhemina swallowed hard around the lump in her
throat.

The
room had become entirely too hot, and she wondered if steam was rising off her
skin. His short, inky black hair, and the stubble on his square jawline made
her fingers itch to touch him. His nose was straight, and full lips were
perfectly made for kissing a woman. Boy didn’t she know it. He was male
perfection standing in flesh and blood right in front of her. He was the man
she’d given herself to for the first time.

Suddenly,
the room grew quiet, and everyone appeared to be uncomfortable, but she
couldn’t figure out why. Maybe her intense overload of emotions were somehow
sending out vibes of unseen energy. She had to get herself under control, had
to get through this awkward situation without making a complete fool of
herself.

“Wilhemina.”

The
way he said her name. “Wil-ha-mina” with the accent on the
ha,
amped up her already pumped hormones. She’d never heard anyone
pronounce her name in that exact way. She was at a loss for words, exposed,
wondering if he was going to tell everyone what happened last night.

“You
talk for a moment while I see if dinner is ready,” Ebony choked out before
hurrying away.

Aldin
came two steps closer, and her heart raced.

“Calm
down, Wilhemina. What happened between us stays between us.” He said quietly in
hopes that no one was eavesdropping.

She
was happy about that, but his closeness didn’t help with her body temperature.

“Take
a deep breath. Relax.”

He
chided her as if she were a naughty school girl. “Relax? Relax?” Her cheeks
heated, a mixture of embarrassment and frustration. “My friend has been
gracious enough to invite me to stay at her spectacular home, and it turns out
that the man I—I—oh! You know what I mean. You are her brother-in-law?” She
whispered the words vehemently.

“It’s
not an ideal situation. I understand, but no one other than you and I need to
know what happened last night. Okay?”

She
nodded. “It still doesn’t make me feel any less uncomfortable.”

“It
is not my intention to make you uncomfortable in any way. I will excuse
myself.” He scowled.

“No!”
she whispered again, and grabbed at his arm.

He
looked down at her hand gripping him tightly and raised one thick brow.

Damn,
the man was tall. She had to crane her neck back to look up into his face. She
took a deep breath, released his arm, then let the breath out slowly.

“I
would feel terrible if I was the reason you didn’t eat dinner in your own home.
Please. I’ll be all right. It was just a shock.”

He
nodded.

“Dinner
is ready. Everyone take a seat please,” Ebony announced as she came back into
the room.

* * * *

Aldin
slid his gaze to Wilhemina for what seemed the hundredth time since they sat
down to eat. He chewed the succulent moist beef, but his normal appreciation
for McKayla’s cooking fell flat with his preoccupation. How had this happened?
Out of all of the women in the world, why had Wilhemina turned out to be
Ebony’s friend?

He’d
been relieved that Ebony hadn’t placed her beside him, but couldn’t necessarily
say he was happy about her sitting next to Dominic either. He frowned and
wondered why that bothered him. Whatever the reason, the distance between them
had helped dampen the strong waves of emotion she’d been unknowingly sending
out, which he had no doubt everyone in the room had been able to feel.

Luckily
for him, those emotions had been jumbled enough that anyone would have had
trouble zeroing in on the cause. Him. On the other hand, he hadn’t missed the
subtle scent of her excitement. That was something no one could confuse. It had
been unintentional on her part since she had no understanding of what they
were. She couldn’t possibly have any idea that she was broadcasting her
feelings as bright as a lighthouse beacon to a room full of vampires.
Fortunately, everyone else knew that as well, and would have been doing their
best to block the waves out of respect for Wilhemina. Everyone in his family
anyway.

He
wasn’t sure about Dominic or Conrad. Conrad hadn’t given any indication that
he’d read much into it. Dominic, on the other hand, had made no secret out of
directing a smirk or two his way. He glared at the hunter across the table, and
the smug bastard had the audacity to respond with a devilish grin.

Aldin
was going to require a serious workout tonight to calm the roiling unease
churning inside him.
Or a particular
redhead in a compromising position. Stop it!
He was not going to touch
Wilhemina again. He’d already hurt her enough. But one simple look at her had
the ability to stir his cock to life under the table. One simple glance at that
smooth skin, those gray eyes, those lush, full lips that inflamed him with
their touch, had the ability to make him argue with reason.

He
could imagine how her thick, auburn hair would look spread across his pillow as
he took her body, slaked her every need until she shuddered in release and
screamed out his name until her silken, wet muscles clamped around him once
again. He put his fork down and closed his eyes for a moment, commanding his
carnal thoughts into submission. “Excuse me please.” He stood. He could not
take one more minute of sitting across from her, of not touching her.

“Leaving
already, brother?” Aiston quirked a brow.

He
ignored Aiston. “Pleasure to meet you.” He gave Wilhemina a slight bow. “Dinner
was amazing as usual,” he called out to McKayla on his way past the kitchen.

He
went to the gym in the basement and changed into his workout clothes. He was
going to beat the hell out of some poor, unsuspecting punching bag tonight.

“Mother!
To what do we owe this lovely surprise visit?” Ashe kissed Marilena on the
cheek.

She
smiled up at him. He was an amazing, honest, loyal man. All of her sons were.
They had obviously not taken after her. Her heart ached, but she hid it well.
This was not going to be a
lovely
visit,
but she had no doubt it would be the biggest surprise of her children’s lives.

“I
need to meet with you, Aldin and Aiston. When would be a good time?”

“Aiston
is out with Avril this morning. After breakfast, she suckered him into going
shopping with her, but I believe we will all be available this evening after
dinner.”

Marilena
nodded, not quite trusting herself to speak without her voice cracking from the
grief eating away at her insides. Her sons would probably hate her after the
meeting. She’d be nothing without them. They were her life, and her own actions
were going to be the cause of their scorn. She had no one to blame but herself.

“Is
something wrong?” Ashe asked.

“We’ll
talk later.” She hugged him and prayed he’d be able to forgive her for the lies
and deceit.

He
nodded as she left him to make her way upstairs toward the nursery to peek in
on Marcus. She found her beautiful grandson sitting on the floor playing with
some wooden blocks adorned with bright colored letters and numbers while McKayla
sat in a chair across from him reading. He was a miracle. She’d never thought
Ashe would get a second chance at happiness. She quietly closed the door and
made her way to Estril’s room. She still couldn’t bring herself to go inside,
but standing at the door somehow made her feel close to the daughter that was
forever lost to her.

After
a few moments, she made her way back toward the rooms she used when she was at
the estate, but stopped abruptly. She turned and raised a shaky hand to tap on
the closed door. A few moments later, a beautiful redhead answered. A
beautiful, familiar redhead.

A
shiver ran the length of Marilena’s spine, and the blood in her veins turned to
ice water.

No. This cannot be happening.
She looked at the woman again and her heart sank. Things had
just become ten times worse. She had been determined to keep her last secret,
the last ace in her hand, the last defense she had against the prophecy to
herself. Not even Ragnor knew. No one knew other than a few select people,
people who she’d carefully compelled to guard her secret with their lives.

She
took a quick peek into the girl’s mind and barely kept herself from swaying.
The glimpses of memories she’d caught sent a shiver of dread down her spine
because she was certain she was staring at Aldin’s destiny.

She’d
always figured if the time came when she’d have to divulge the details of the
last effort she’d made to keep her sons safe, Uriah couldn’t possibly hate her
any more than he already did. But now…now not only would her betrayal place
another wedge between her and Uriah, it would directly involve Wilhemina, which
could potentially lead to Aldin turning his back on her for good as well.

“Hi.”

“I’m
Marilena. I’m Ashe, Aldin and Aiston’s mother.” She cursed Fate for making what
should have been a happy meeting a dark cloud of warning.

“I’m
Wilhemina. Ebony’s friend.”

“Nice
to meet you. I didn’t mean to bother you.”

“You
didn’t bother me. I’m glad to meet you as well.”

How
could Fate be such a heinous bitch? What had she ever done to the old biddy to
deserve so much ire?